I remember I used to feel like losing weight would require me to literally shift the earth and hold it there for the rest of my life! It sounded way too complicated, challenging and exhausting.

I used to ask myself, is the experience of having a great body, more energy and confidence really worth me struggling and having no fun?

And the answer was no, not really… some days it would be but most days, I just wanted to live my life like a “normal” person and be free to do what I want.

And yet, I still hated my thighs, my belly, my arms, skin and felt like I didn’t fit in or was wanted or pretty enough, cool enough and all that baggage…

I just couldn’t find that happy medium where it was sustainable and I could love what I’ve got!

So I tried…

Diets and was good for a little while but the fun side of me would egg me on to go back to old habits

Pills and patches – once that are meant to make you drop excess weight, kill your hunger, give you energy and make your skin amazing… It sort of worked, it sort of didn’t. I never changed my habits but my mind and body definitely felt different for some time. It was expensive and I didn’t really see major results for the price I paid.

Counting calories – this stressed me out! You have to know your macros, weigh food (and you could put your calories completely out if you weighed it before or after cooking, I can’t remember but it did not suit me).

Massive amounts of exercise – I’d go for a run or walk as well as train with a personal trainer, I didn’t have the energy to do this and it was hard to keep up.

I had a temporary relationship with everything and found myself wishing that this time I’d get the results and they would stick. But they didn’t. That is the very hard way to make a change!

Why?

Well, there’s a part of our brain which is incredibly logical, a little more old school and likes to stay the same. It’s responsible for our safety, security and makes sure we don’t repeat a dangerous part of our history OR change our current experiences so we don’t run the risk of putting ourselves in danger in the future. This sounds a little dramatic right? Well, it’s not. Your brain perceives all change as danger, doesn’t matter how small it is.

Up until now, this part of your brain has done a FANTASTIC job of getting you to this day safely and alive and it will not run the risk of you jeopardising this by implementing something new, especially if it is painful, boring or does not stimulate your brain. Make sense?

So… when you look at this with your health, when you put yourself on a restrictive diet or follow a military exercise routine, you are depriving yourself of time, food and stimulation and that is not fun! You knew from the get-go that you hate diets, don’t like the workouts and want to live your life to the fullest so this wasn’t likely to work for good. Well, depriving yourself like that is the BEST WAY to prove yourself right.

If you try to shift the earth and transform over night, it will be too hard and “dangerous” and as soon as an opportunity will present its self, you will sleep in, visit the vending machine, have a glass of wine (then have another because you “ruined” it) or find some really good excuses for not making it.

Trust me, I know and I’ve been there done that!

So what are your options?

Loosen up those reigns! The more deprived you are, the more stressed you are (especially when you break those rules) and stress will reverse all your good work

Focus on what you get to have, so yes, maybe you can’t get a burger for a while but what do you get to have instead? That’s what we want to focus on! A little quantum physics here… what you focus on exists and what you don’t focus on ceases to exist. Meaning don’t focus on the burger else it’ll exist and jeopardise your goals.

Know what you will do when you want to feel a little spoilt or have something to celebrate. Walk, massage, buy some flowers, get a cleaner, buy a pack of blueberries.

Choose options that are FUN! There’s no point in getting up at 6am for a workout that you hate. Find the workout that you LOVE. And there’s no point in eating quinoa or kale if you don’t like it! Find the foods that you LOVE which fit in your plans! Make it easy on yourself.

Give me a like or share if this resonates for you! Sharing is caring and the more people that understand how to effectively transform their minds and bodies the better 🙂